AARP - Segunda Juventud - January Health Calendar

January
Health Calendar

By Carrie Barnes and Carlos J. Queirós

Full Calendar

Bilingual Health Resources (agosto/
septiembre 2005)

National Volunteer Blood Donor Month

Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

Thyroid Awareness Month

National Volunteer Blood Donor Month
Start the year off right—with the spirit of generosity. On any given day, approximately 38,000 units of blood are needed for accident victims, people undergoing surgery, and patients receiving treatment for various diseases, according to the American Red Cross. Hispanic donors are in particularly high demand.

Additional Resources:

Visit the American Red Cross site or call 1-800-448-3543 (English/ Spanish).

Health Calendar

January

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August

September

October

November

December

Cervical Cancer Awareness Month
Cervical cancer screening saves lives.
Encourage the Hispanic women you love (including yourself!) to take time out this month to get a Pap test and pelvic exam. It could save a life! The American Cancer Society estimates that when all the figures are in, over 10,000 women will have been diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer in 2006, and about 3,700 will die of the disease. Hispanic women have the highest rate of new cases of invasive cervical cancer and the second-highest death rates, more than twice that of non-hispanic white women. Fortunately, the majority of these deaths can be prevented through early detection and treatment. When you get regular Pap tests and pelvic exams, your health care provider can find and treat abnormal cells in the cervix before they turn into cancer.

Related Articles:

Calculate Your Risk (agosto/septiembre 2005)

Additional Resources:

For more information, visit the National Cancer Institute’s “What You Need to Know” page on cervical cancer or call 1-800-4-CANCER (English/Spanish).

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Cancer Prevention and Control website offers information and a list of links.

For general information about cancer, treatments and support, visit the American Cancer Society.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine offers information on alternative treatments or call 1-888-644-6226 (English/Spanish).

To find out where to go in your area to get a free or low-cost Pap test, call the Center for Disease Control and Prevention at 1-888-842-6355 (English), The American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 (English/Spanish), or the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Line at 1-800-422-6237 (English/Spanish).

Thyroid Awareness Month
Keep your life in balance, think thyroid.
If your thyroid doesn’t work properly, neither do you. Every cell, tissue, and organ in your body is affected by the thyroid gland, yet many people are unaware of its impact on everything from cholesterol levels to metabolism to depression. An estimated 27 million Americans have thyroid disorders, and 8 out of 10 of them are women; more than half have never been diagnosed. Your risk for thyroid dysfunction increases as you age and elderly females are the most prone. Yet this condition often goes undetected because its symptoms are like the symptoms of aging.

Additional Resources:

To learn more about this small, but important gland, visit the Thyroid Home Page.

The American Thyroid Association offers information in Spanish on hyper- and hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer (English with Spanish links).
For additional information and referrals, call the Office of Minority Health’s Resource Center at 1-800-444-6472 (English/Spanish).

Updated: October 2006

These links are provided for informational purposes only. AARP does not endorse, and has no control over, or responsibility for, the linked sites or the content, advertisements, materials, products, or services available on or throughout these sites.

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